This invention relates to apparatuses for mowing grass and, more particularly, relates to a manually operated, combination mowing and rolling apparatus intended to short mow and/or manicure grass found, for example, on a golf putting green or croquet court.
In view of the onslaught of domestic and resort club-type putting greens and croquet courts, there""s a growing need for a practical, efficient and inexpensive means for maintaining the grass of such greens or courts. Such maintenance may include mowing, manicuring or rolling the grass. Typically, only golf courses, resort clubs or other larger facilities have the necessary equipment and personnel to maintain such grass. There is little available for a smaller facility, particularly a domestic putting green.
Conventional attempts to address this need include a greensmowing machine offered many years ago by Ransomes, a U.K. company. Ransomes""s models are believed to be no longer in production. Another prior art attempt is currently offered by McLane Manufacturing, Inc., Paramount, Calif. McLane offers self-propelled and man-powered lawn mowers for such applications.
In accordance with the present invention, I provide a combination grass mowing and rolling apparatus comprising a lower unit assembly coupled to an upper handle assembly, which is securable in varying positions to accommodate the height of the operator and to facilitate the rolling of the grass as well. The alternate position of the handle assembly also facilitates the transporting and storage of the apparatus.
The lower unit assembly comprises a rear-drive-roller assembly, a front roller assembly, a grass-cutting reel interposed between the front and rear drive roller assemblies, a grass-catching assembly arranged adjacent the grass-cutting reel, a grass deflector for deflecting cut grass generated by the cutting reel to be collected in the grass-catching assembly, and a drive-train gear assembly coupling the rear drive-roller assembly to the cutting reel for providing rotational driving force to the cutting reel.
The rear drive-roller assembly includes a first roller positioned adjacent to a second roller, each of which is capable of independent movement relative to the other to better facilitate the turning of the device when in operation. The front roller assembly is further provided with means for adjusting the vertical height at which the grass is cut. The apparatus further includes means for resharpening the blades of the cutting reel.
An improvement over the prior art provided by my present invention is it serves as both a mowing device and a rolling device to manicure the grass in a smoothing action. This is accomplished by the upper handle assembly being movable between first and second positions to provide for, in a first position, for example, forward movement of the apparatus to mow or cut the grass, and in a second position to facilitate rolling the grass in a smoothing action or to allow the apparatus to be transported over the ground or similar surface. (For clarity, this second position is referred to as the xe2x80x9crolling-transportxe2x80x9d mode.)
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.